Sexual assault against the elderly frequent but invisible in community: report

Julia May

When Norma, an 84-year-old woman in respite care, was sexually assaulted by an attendant, she cried out, “You can’t do that!” Her attacker simply laughed and said, “I can do whatever I want.”

Tragically, Norma’s assault is not unique. She’s one of thousands of older women being sexually assaulted each year in Australia.

A pioneering study, to be released on Monday, has exposed shocking cases of sexual assault against frail and vulnerable older women and makes the case for a working with vulnerable people check, similar to that required for working with children.

Despite horrific acts of cruelty and dramatic effects on mortality rates – research shows nearly half of women aged over 70 die within a year of being abused – researchers say sexual assault against older women is invisible in the community.

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The study took three years to complete and was based at La Trobe University. The research team included researchers from the National Ageing Research Institute; the McCaughey VicHealth Centre for Community Wellbeing and the Centre for Women's Health, Gender and Society at the University of Melbourne.

Catherine Barrett, one of the authors of Norma’s Project, the first national study of its kind, said despite the parallels between child abuse and elder abuse – with perpetrators preying on the most vulnerable in society – statistics and awareness about sexual violence against older women lag about a generation behind that of assaults on children.

As part of the project researchers from La Trobe conducted 66 interviews with women who have been abused, their families, care workers and sexual assault support workers.

The assaults were carried out in the women’s own homes by people close to them, in aged-care facilities, hospitals, retirement villages and crisis accommodation.

“There are 66 stories that were shared, which means that there would be thousands of others out there,” Dr Barrett said.

In 2012, there were 378 reports of alleged unlawful sexual contact in Australian aged-care facilities, 29 of which used ‘‘unreasonable force’’.

Using the estimated proportion of sexual assaults that are reported across the board as a guide – 19 per cent – the annual number of assaults in aged-care facilities could number close to 2000.

It’s likely to be even higher, however, as older, dependent women are much less likely to report abuse. Add abuse in other contexts where data isn’t collected – such as private homes, hospitals, retirement villages and crisis accommodation – and the numbers would be dramatically higher.

The La Trobe report’s recommendations include improved training for carers to detect and respond to sexual assault allegations and better partnerships between aged-care operators and sexual assault services.

The researchers also call for a working with vulnerable people check, similar to that required for working with children.

Police checks, which are required for care workers, are of little value as conviction rates are less than 1 per cent. The idea has support from sexual assault support workers and aged-care advocates, who want a register put in place to prevent abusers from moving from one place to the next.

Paul Sadler, chief executive of Presbyterian Aged Care, said it should be modelled on the British system, which also records “reports of concern” to prevent predators slipping through the net.

Sue Hendy, chief executive of Council on the Ageing Victoria, said older people’s rights are constantly breached. “We don’t have the same rights conversation about the rights of an older person to a safe environment as we do about, say, the rights of children.

‘‘When we’re talking about older people making decisions, if you’ve got dementia people think you can’t make any decisions. But a woman still knows if she doesn’t want to be raped or touched, even if she can’t tell you what day it is.”